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Celtic have targeted top spot in the women’s game in Scotland after turning professional with immediate effect.

The Hoops have announced a “significant investment” to go pro in a bid to end years of Glasgow City dominance.

A number of the existing squad have agreed full-time deals for the 2020 season and a new head coach - to replace outgoing Eddie Wolecki-Black - will be announced shortly and will be backed-up by a full-time assistant.

The squad, once in place, will head to Spain for a pre-season training camp later this month before the new campaign kicks off on February 9.

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Glasgow City have led the way for the women’s game in Scotland, winning an astonishing 13 successive titles and reaching the quarter final of the Champions League so far this season.

Celtic first announced plans to go pro a year ago before they finished third in the SWPL last season - level on points with second-placed Hibs and just one behind champions City.

Last summer the Scotland national side reached the World Cup finals for the first time and the game continues to grow with Rangers also having turned pro.

A statement from Parkhead said: “Celtic FC is delighted to announce that with effect from today it’s women’s first team will be moving to professional status for the first time.

“Considerable work has been undertaken by Celtic to reach this stage and significant investment is being committed to this new professional model.

“A number of existing players have already been moved on to professional contracts and the Celtic squad for 2020 will be bolstered by some further signings, modern apprentices and continuum amateur players, which will all be announced over the coming weeks

“A number of new sponsors, including Indigo Unified Communications, Eleven Sports Media, Utilita and BeCordial Hotel Group have already come on board to support Celtic's vision for the future, with further partnerships being finalised to ensure the off-field and academic parts of the programme match the on-field standards.”

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Gordon Kaye, Celtic’s Head of Business Development, said: "We are delighted to be leading the way in this area in Scotland and we are sure our move to professional status is one which will be hugely beneficial for the club and our players.

“Our new professional arrangement aims to provide the same opportunities for women wishing to play the game at all levels as we currently do for men - as a club famously open to all, this is hugely important to us.

"Building on recent progress, our objective will always be to aim higher and achieve more success and we believe our new professional status will allow us to do this.

“While we realise reaching the top spot in Scotland may not happen overnight, we always want to be the best in all we do and this is absolutely something we aspire to.

"It is a very exciting time for women's football. and we are delighted to be driving forward with these exciting new plans."